Whether it is the ancient Olympics or the modern Olympics, whether it is the Summer Olympics or the Winter Olympics, from the day it was born, it has never been a simple sports meeting. People have placed many additional expectations on this international sports competition. Today, the Olympic Games has become an international peace gathering, and expressing the expectation of peace in the form of sports competition has become the common aspiration of people of all countries.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, European and American countries gradually popularized and developed ice and snow sports, such as skiing, sledding, ice skating, and ice hockey. deep accumulation. In 1887, Norway established the world’s first ski club. In 1901, the Scandinavian countries held the Nordic Games, which became a tradition until 1926. It is said that the “father of the modern Olympics” Coubertin had long wanted to hold the Winter Olympics alone, but his proposal was strongly opposed by the Scandinavian countries. They felt that since there was already a traditional Nordic Games, there was no need to host the Winter Olympics.
In the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England, figure skating became an official event of the Olympic Games. In 1920, at the Antwerp Summer Olympics in Belgium, ice hockey also became an Olympic sport. In 1921, the International Olympic Committee decided to hold the “International Winter Sports Week” in Chamonix, France, in 1924, because of the popularity of skating and ice hockey in the Olympic Games. In 1924, the athletes came to Chamonix, France. In the competition, the Nordic and German athletes showed great strength. Two years after the event ended, the International Olympic Committee officially recognized the competition as the 1st Winter Olympics. After that, the Winter Olympics held every four years became the norm.
Many people may not know that the 1st to 16th Winter Olympics are held in the same year as the Summer Olympics. In 1928, the 2nd Winter Olympics were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. In 1932, the 3rd Winter Olympics left the European continent for the first time and was held in Lake Placid, New York, USA. The then mayor of New York and later US President Franklin Roosevelt presided over the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. In 1952, the Winter Olympics were held in Oslo, the capital of Norway, known as the “cradle of modern skiing”. At this Winter Olympics, the Olympic flame was lit for the first time. The fire didn’t come from Greece, but from the fireplace in the home of the “father of modern skiing in the world” Sonder Norheim, and was relayed to Oslo by skiers. In 1972, the 11th Winter Olympics was held in Sapporo, Japan, which was the first Winter Olympics held in Asia. In 1980, the 13th Winter Olympics was held in Lake Placid, USA. This was the first time that Chinese athletes participated in the Winter Olympics.
In 1986, the International Olympic Committee voted to stagger the dates of the Summer and Winter Olympics. The 16th Winter Olympics, held in Albertville, France, in 1992 were the last Winter Olympics to be held in the same year as the Summer Olympics. In 1994, the Olympic torch came to Lillehammer, Norway. Since then, the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics have been held two years apart. In 1998, the 18th Winter Olympics were held in Nagano, Japan. Nagano had won the right to host the Winter Olympics as early as 1940, but was denied the opportunity to host it because of World War II. In 2014, the Russian Sochi Winter Olympics and 2018 South Korea Pingchang Winter Olympics, more and more countries and athletes participated in this festival in the Winter Olympics, showing “higher, faster,” Stronger” Olympic spirit (in July 2021, the Olympic motto was changed to “Higher, faster, stronger, more united”, which is the first time the Olympic motto has been updated in 108 years).
Since the first Winter Olympics in 1924, China has been absent from the Winter Olympics for more than half a century. It was not until 1980 that the Chinese Olympic Committee first selected athletes to participate in the 13th Winter Olympics held in the United States.
For China at the time, the only goal of the Winter Olympics was to win medals. It was Ye Qiaobo who achieved zero breakthrough in medals for the Chinese sports delegation at the Winter Olympics. She won silver medals in the women’s 500-meter and 1,000-meter speed skating at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics in France. Ten years later, Chinese athlete Yang Yang won the gold medal in the women’s short track speed skating 500-meter final at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in the United States. This is the first Winter Olympic gold medal won by a Chinese sports delegation.
In August 2008, athletes and tourists from all over the world gathered in Beijing. The magnificent opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the hospitable Chinese people and the competition venues with a strong sense of science and technology all showed the strong tolerance and enthusiasm of the Chinese people. Confidence. The successful hosting of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics has brought greater encouragement to Chinese athletes. In 2010, the Chinese sports delegation won two silvers and four bronzes in hardware at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in Canada. In Vancouver, Chinese athletes have written one legend after another. Chinese figure skating duo Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won the gold medal, rewriting the history of China’s figure skating Winter Olympics without a gold medal, and also breaking the 46-year monopoly of Russian players on this event. Wang Meng won the women’s short track speed skating 500m championship, becoming the first champion in the history of the Chinese Winter Olympics to successfully defend her title, and the first Chinese athlete to win three gold medals in a single Winter Olympics. It was also at this Winter Olympics that the Chinese women’s curling team made history and won the bronze medal, ending the first Winter Olympics trip. On the curling field, the female players watched the movement of curling intently, and at the same time kept reminding their teammates loudly. The excellent performance of the women’s curling team has also made curling, an unpopular sport, a popular sport in China.
Athletes around the world are eager to win an Olympic medal, “which represents the values of the Olympics and conveys an important message: friendship, glory, respect for one’s opponents”. For athletes, medals are an affirmation of their achievements in competitions; for Olympic host countries, medals are a medium to display their own culture and convey corresponding ideas.
Winter Olympic medals are varied in material, shape, pattern and size. For example, the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics in Germany was the largest medal in the history of the Olympic Games. The diameter of the medal reached 100 mm. The goddess of victory on the medal was sitting on a two-wheeled chariot, holding a The Laurel Crown, this medal is also the rarest of the Winter Olympic medals, as only 109 were made at the time. The designers of the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics medals in Japan threw aside tradition and created the first non-circular Winter Olympics medals, where the pattern of each event was engraved on a small badge, which was connected to the medal and ribbon. The heaviest Olympic medal in history appeared at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in the United States. The medals were made of locally mined gold, silver and copper. Each handmade gold and silver medal weighed about 560 grams and the bronze medal weighed about 450 grams; The shape of the medals is also unique and varies according to the shape of the rocks in the river.
On July 31, 2015, IOC President Bach announced that Beijing won the right to host the 24th Winter Olympics in 2022, which means that Beijing has become the first city in history to host both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics medal also echoes the Beijing 2008 Olympic medal “Gold Inlay Jade”, showing the cultural heritage of the “City of Two Olympics”. The medal is composed of a circle and a center. The five rings are concentric, concentric and return to the circle, expressing the Chinese cultural connotation of “heaven, earth and people’s hearts are united”, and also symbolizes the Olympic spirit that brings people from all over the world together to share the glory of the Winter Olympics. The shape of the medal is simple and concise, which reflects the requirements of the Beijing Winter Olympics to be “simple, safe and exciting”.
The center of the front of the medal is engraved with the Olympic Five Rings logo, and the full English name of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is engraved around it. The ice and snow patterns express the characteristics of the Winter Olympics, and the auspicious cloud patterns convey auspicious meanings. The Beijing Winter Olympics emblem is engraved in the center of the back of the medal, and the full Chinese name of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is engraved around it. Harmony with nature also symbolizes that the athletes in the 24th Winter Olympics are shining like stars, creating great achievements. The outermost ring on the back of the medal is engraved with the name of the event of the winning athlete. In line with the principle of “two Olympic Games, the same wonderful”, the Paralympic Winter Games medals and the Winter Olympic medals use the same image source, and the designs are in the same line.
This Winter Olympics happens to be held during the Chinese Spring Festival. The fusion of world sports events and traditional Chinese festivals brings unique Chinese cultural charm to this Winter Olympics. In view of this, the design of the medal lanyard adopts the traditional mulberry silk weaving process, and the color is chosen to represent the festive red, expressing the Chinese people’s good festive blessings to the athletes.
The mascots of the modern Olympic Games are also a highlight and much loved.
Bing Dundun, the mascot of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, is a cute panda in ice clothes. Bing Dwen Dwen, English name Bing Dwen Dwen. Ice, symbolizing purity and strength, is the characteristic of the Winter Olympics; piercing, meaning honest and healthy, fits the overall image of the panda, and symbolizes the strong body, tenacity and inspiring Olympic spirit of the Winter Olympic athletes. The shape of the head shell of Bingdundun is taken from the helmet of ice and snow sports, and the colorful halo decoration is inspired by the ice ribbon, the national speed skating hall of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The flowing bright color lines symbolize the track of ice and snow sports and 5G high-tech. The heart-shaped pattern on Bing Dun Dun’s left palm represents China’s warm welcome to friends from all over the world.
The originator of the Olympic mascot is Schuss, who appeared at the Grenoble Winter Olympics in France in 1968. This is a man with a red round head, a blue lightning-like figure, a pair of skis, and a half-human, half-human figure. cartoon ski man character. The first official Olympic mascot appeared at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Since then, the mascot has become a very important image element in the Olympic Games and has formed a tradition. The first official Winter Olympics mascot appeared at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. It was a snowman with a carrot nose and stubby hands and feet, Schneemand. The snowman wore a traditional red top on his head. hat.
The first mascot with a real animal as the image appeared at the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics in the United States. This is a raccoon named Roni. The name Roni comes from the local Aboriginal Iroquois. The word “raccoon” in the language. Since then, cute animal mascots such as wolf, polar bear, owl, snow hare, snow leopard, and white tiger have appeared one after another. Some animals have been chosen as mascots by different countries because of their popularity. It is worth mentioning that the mascots of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia – the snow leopard Leopard, the polar bear Polar Bear and the hare Hare were selected for the first time through the referendum of the host country. This is the history of the Winter Olympics and the Olympic Games. For the first time in history, there was a nationwide vote on the mascot, and the snow leopard Leopard received the highest vote rate, making it the most handsome and majestic mascot star.
The mascot of the 2022 Winter Paralympics, Xue Rongrong, is a child who combines the art of lanterns and paper-cutting. English name Shuey Rhon Rhon. Snow, symbolizing whiteness and beauty, is the characteristic of ice and snow sports; tolerant, meaning tolerance, exchange and mutual learning; fusion, meaning fusion, mutual understanding and fusion. It embodies the beautiful vision of creating a more inclusive world and building a community with a shared future for mankind through the Paralympic Movement. Xue Rongrong designs and creates based on lanterns. Lanterns have distinctive Chinese cultural characteristics and are recognized worldwide as Chinese symbols, representing harvest, joy, warmth and light.
